Add VMs to Inventory PoSh

[Roger Haines]

I want to modify the script below to include all the servers from a CSV file in the format below, then everything included in the "SearchResult" line in the script.  ie..  "$SearchResult = $dsBrowser.SearchDatastoreSubFolders($DatastorePath, $SearchSpec) | where {$_.FolderPath -notmatch ".snapshot"} | %{$_.FolderPath + ($_.File | select Path).Path}"

Name
server1
server2
server3
server4
server5

$Cluster = "TEST"
$Datastores = "snap*"
$VMFolder = "ReplicationRecovery"
$ESXHost = Get-Cluster $Cluster | Get-VMHost | select -First 1
$RGMachines = Get-Content C:\MasterRG.csv
 
foreach($Datastore in Get-Datastore $Datastores) {
   # Set up Search for .VMX Files in Datastore
   $ds = Get-Datastore -Name $Datastore | %{Get-View $_.Id}
   $SearchSpec = New-Object VMware.Vim.HostDatastoreBrowserSearchSpec
   $SearchSpec.matchpattern = "*.vmx"
   $dsBrowser = Get-View $ds.browser
   $DatastorePath = "[" + $ds.Summary.Name + "]"
 
   # Find all .VMX file paths in Datastore, filtering out ones with .snapshot (Useful for NetApp NFS)
   $SearchResult = $dsBrowser.SearchDatastoreSubFolders($DatastorePath, $SearchSpec) | where {$_.FolderPath -notmatch ".snapshot"} | %{$_.FolderPath + ($_.File | select Path).Path}
 
   #Register all .vmx Files as VMs on the datastore
   foreach($VMXFile in $SearchResult) {
      New-VM -VMFilePath $VMXFile -VMHost $ESXHost -Location $VMFolder -RunAsync
   }
}

I suspect I need to add something like below, but need some help.  @LucD

Where-Object { $_.Name -in $vmList }

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[Roger Haines]

Anyone?  I'm stumped! 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

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[Alex Sons]

Well, I took a different approach when searching for files on a datastore.
Basically I mount each datastore (New-PSDrive) and use standard Powershell commands (Get-ChildItem) to find the files I'm searching for.

Something like:

$vcname   = YourVCName
$dsname   = YourDatastoreName

$vc       = connect-viserver $vcname
$dsobject     = Get-Datastore -Name $dsname -Server $vc
$psdrive      = New-PSDrive -datastore $dsobject -Name $dsobject.Name -PSProvider VimDatastore -Root \ 

$vmxlist = Get-ChildItem ${psdrive}:\ -Include *.vmx -Recurse
$vmxlist |select Name, FolderPath

You may want to 'enhance' the -Include statement in order to limit the search path.
Or you could just omit the -Include part, collect a list of all files and then select the vmx files.

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[Roger Haines]

Thanks for your reply Alex.  I took a stab at letting AI fix it.  See below, now I think the issue is related to using the "Import-CSV" cmdlet.  When I use Export-CSV to export the output, it shows as numbers.

# Requires the VMware PowerCLI module

Import-Module VMware.PowerCLI

 

# NOTE: Ensure you are connected to vCenter via Connect-VIServer -Server <vCenterName>

 

# --- Configuration Variables ---

$ClusterName = "TEST"

# Use a wildcard for the datastore pattern

$DatastorePattern = "snap*" 

$VMFolderName = "Recovery"

# Path to the CSV file containing the names of the VMs you want to find

$InputCSVPath = "C:\Input\Master.csv"

 

# --- Pre-requisite Setup ---

 

# Get the target ESX host (the first host found in the cluster)

$ESXHost = Get-Cluster $ClusterName | Get-VMHost | Select-Object -First 1

if (-not $ESXHost) {

    Write-Error "Could not find a valid ESX host in cluster $ClusterName."

    exit

}

 

# Ensure the target VM folder exists, create it if not

$TargetVMFolder = Get-Folder -Name $VMFolderName -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

if (-not $TargetVMFolder) {

    Write-Host "Creating VM folder: $VMFolderName"

    $TargetVMFolder = New-Folder -Name $VMFolderName

}

 

# Load the desired VM names from the input CSV into an array

# Assuming the CSV has a column header named 'Name' (adjust 'Name' if needed)

try {

    $TargetVMNames = Import-Csv -Path $InputCSVPath | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name

} catch {

    Write-Error "Failed to import CSV file from $InputCSVPath. Check file path and format."

    exit

}

 

# Array to store the paths of the found VMX files

$FoundVMXFiles = @()

 

# --- Search Logic ---

 

Write-Host "Starting search for VM names listed in $InputCSVPath..."

 

# Set up the search criteria once

$SearchSpec = New-Object VMware.Vim.HostDatastoreBrowserSearchSpec

$SearchSpec.matchpattern = "*.vmx"

 

# Iterate through all datastores matching the pattern

foreach ($Datastore in Get-Datastore -Name $DatastorePattern) {

    Write-Host "Searching datastore: $($Datastore.Name)..."

 

    # Get the view/internal object reference for the datastore browser

    $dsBrowser = Get-View $Datastore.Extensiondata.Browser

 

    # Define the base path for the search

    $DatastorePath = "[" + $Datastore.Name + "]"

 

    # Execute the search using the API method SearchDatastoreSubFolders

    # We use a Where-Object filter immediately to remove snapshot folders

    $searchResults = $dsBrowser.SearchDatastoreSubFolders($DatastorePath, $SearchSpec) | 

        Where-Object { $_.FolderPath -notmatch ".snapshot" }

 

    # Process the results

    foreach ($folder in $searchResults) {

        foreach ($file in $folder.File) {

            $vmxPath = $folder.FolderPath + $file.Path

 

            # Extract the VM name guess from the folder path containing the VMX file

            $vmNameGuess = ($vmxPath.Split('/')[-2]).Trim()

 

            # Check if this VM name is in our target list from the CSV

            if ($vmNameGuess -in $TargetVMNames) {

                Write-Host "  [+] Match found: $vmNameGuess at $vmxPath"

                $FoundVMXFiles += $vmxPath

            }

        }

    }

}

 

# --- Registration Logic ---

 

if ($FoundVMXFiles.Count -eq 0) {

    Write-Warning "No matching VMX files were found."

} else {

    Write-Host "Registering $($FoundVMXFiles.Count) found VMs..."

 

    foreach ($VMXFile in $FoundVMXFiles) {

        # Use New-VM to register the VM from its VMX file path

        # It's helpful to explicitly name the VM using our guess to match the input CSV name expectation

        $registerName = ($VMXFile.Split('/')[-2]).Trim()

        

        Write-Host "Registering $registerName from $VMXFile..."

        New-VM -Name $registerName -VMFilePath $VMXFile -VMHost $ESXHost -Location $TargetVMFolder -RunAsync

    }

    Write-Host "VM registration process initiated."

}

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